Adventures of Superman #472 (November 1990)
Adventures of Superman #472 (November 1990)
More like Adventures of MAN #472 (November 1990), because Superman just lost all of his super back in part one of KRISIS OF THE KRIMSON KRYPTONITE. Undeterred, The Man of Regular-Human-Flesh tries to continue his superheroing career by replacing his powers with a rope, some gloves, a bulletproof vest and a faulty force field belt (all borrowed from Professor Hamilton). Considering that the issue starts with not-Superman hanging upside down and about to get a tractor thrown at his face, that plan isn’t going too well.
The big guy (in case he didn’t mention his name enough times) is Mammoth of the Fearsome Five – who, by the way, already defeated Superman once when he had his powers (Adventures #430), so this situation isn’t looking good. Before Mammoth can kill Superman, though, Maggie Sawyer and the Special Crimes Unit almost do that themselves by unloading their full arsenal on his general direction, thinking he can take it. Superman manages to hide from the explosions by crawling into a sewer, and then convinces Mammoth to turn himself in using the real power that was inside him all along: the power of smack talk.
Unfortunately, not all villains are as dumb as Mammoth, so going around talking criminals into submission probably isn’t gonna be a sustainable crimefighting technique (it works for Batman, but that dude is crazy). So, Superman comes up with an idea to get his powers back: getting a bath of solar radiation. Luckily, he knows a guy who practically poops solar radiation and happens to owe him a favor, so Superman calls him on the phone and…
TO BE CONTINUED! IN STARMAN #28!
Plotline-Watch:
Clark Kent visits Lois Lane’s mom at the hospital as she continues getting worse, because he’s a supportive boyfriend and all. Then he flips out on Lois when she casually mentions that Lex Luthor has been paying for her mom’s meds for years – meds that don’t work anymore, but Lois says she’ll do anything to keep her mom alive. Anything. Including bald people, presumably.
Because I know you were wondering: Clark’s cab ride to the hospital is $6.50.
The force field belt Professor Hamilton lends Superman is, of course, the same one the good professor used in Adventures #425 to try to kill Superman and also a random hooker, as I’ll never, ever get tired of reminding people. On a related note, Hamilton mentions that he heard about Mammoth’s legendary stupidity while he was in prison. You know, I’d read a miniseries about Hamilton’s time in jail and how he managed to keep himself alive/unmolested through wacky improvised inventions.
The sister that Mammoth wanted to get a birthday present for (by robbing a jewelry store) is Shimmer, also of the Fearsome Five. I think at one point DC killed her off, and then for some reason Mammoth turned super-smart.
WTF-Watch:
I think pretty much everyone is bizarrely out of character during that aforementioned hospital scene:
Let’s start with Clark. Is it me or does he come off as an insensitive jackass towards Lois, considering the whole “her mom is dying” thing? It doesn’t help that the art kinda makes it look like he’s shaking her by the shoulders.
Then there’s Lois herself, though this is more of continuity nitpick: she says she’s been “getting closer” with Luthor since he saved her mom’s life (after secretly making her sick himself), but that was three years ago, and she seemed repulsed by Lex as recently as the “Dark Knight Over Metropolis” storyline. She even says she’ll “never forget what he did to her mom” when they run into him at the Baldy Awards gala. So, when exactly did she get “close” with Lex? I would not read a miniseries about that.
Lois’ dad, who has historically been a macho asshole, notices Clark’s face is bruised and rather than commending him for getting into a fight, he calls him irresponsible. But, his wife is dying so I guess he gets a pass.
And finally, Lucy Lane’s personality isn’t really off, but she barely has a personality to start with so it doesn’t count.